[Bristol-Birds] Paddle creek after rain Aug 18-19 2010

From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>

To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:16:31 -0400

(Above) Starting at fullpool on Mon, 16 Aug 2010, the
Paddle Creek Pond was pulled to begin to expose this
much mudflat in 24 hrs. by Tuesday, 17 Aug, at noon.
This was an intentional drawdown for our attempt at
shorebird habitat management at Paddle Creek Pond.
(Above) The rainfall of 18 Aug 2010 raised the level
about 2 inches which was surface runoff. Notice the
plants at the top left are back in the water and they were
out in the 17 Aug photo.
(Above) an early morning rainfall of just over one inch,
which fell in the area about 4 a.m. Sunday, raised the
Paddle Creek level back to full pool.
The difference in the top level and bottom level is that
the pond gained about 4 inches of water level since
it was lowered last Monday and Tuesday.
With waterlevel management for shorebirds / waders,
it is apparent that we only need about 8 inches of
drawdown to good habitat. This is probably doable
in just three days but more rain is predicted by Wednesday.
Wet mudflats are highly desirable at this location and
probably so at other such habitats. So fluctuation is
our friend. When we draw down to extensively expose
the mudflats, excellent habitat is produced if timed with
migration dates and migration weather.
If the mudflats begin to dry, they will not draw stopover
from shorebird migrants. But we will refill and then
draw the pond down to again expose mudflats and
see how long we can sustain the proper nutrients,
animals and such. Can we keep the desirable food
that shorebirds are finding there or does the drying
out destroy that resource for the remainder of the
season?
Paddle Creek is a small project. It is good for a
steady stream of a few good birds each season
but the numbers of shorebirds and waterbirds will
probably never be large. It is a convent place to
check in a and hour or so.
We are face with a somewhat similar shorebird habitat
issue at Musick's Campground on South Holston Lake
but we do not control any aspect of what happens:
Notice the slight up turn of the red line on the
graph. The red line indicates the changing water
levels at South Holston until this hour. The little
up turn represents almost a foot of lake
level increase. The pond just to the left of the
driveway leading to the outer viewing area went
dry about a week ago. Then water came back in
with rainfall. The lake level dropped and it
dried again. After the early Sunday morning
rainfall, it has water once again.
But this change in the pond is producing nothing
for the birdlife. A few shorebirds and egrets are
in and around this area of Musick's Campground
but none of them are using the pond. The
first drop in water level and drying of that pond,
wiped out any small fish and other animal life
and the pond is no longer a food source for the
birds. The water for this pond is seeping in
underground from the rising lake level and surface
runoff from rain. This produces no food. We'll
keep and eye on this to see if this is correct.
The small pond at the upper end of the outer
banks at Musick's has been covered again with
water. However, whatever small fish and such
getting trapped there could possible be replenished
by the rising and falling of the lake level. It has
not attracted much birdlife and that suggest it was
without much food on the first drawdown.
In the big picture, a sudden rise at Musick's from
the heavy rains can just delay the eventual drying
out of this area and cause the attractive life of
the shoreline to extend well into September or
later. We'll learn more as the season progresses.
We have nearly eight weeks of tropical storm
season left in the south Atlantic and about the
same amount of shorebird migration. So the
season may just be getting underway at Musick's
with some good birding ahead.
Let's go birding . . . .
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN